Media release from Attorney General and Minister for Justice Yvette D'Ath. The Palaszczuk Government is calling on the Federal Government and other states and territories to back further development of improved consumer laws, going into this week's Consumer Affairs Forum. Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath said Australian Consumer Law had undergone significant review. Last [...]
Millions of people around the world today are subjected to modern slavery practices, such as servitude and forced labour. Australian businesses and consumers are benefiting from modern slavery in supply chains, including through access to cheaper labour and services. These are grave violations of human rights with devastating impacts which have no place in our [...]
The following is a press release from the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Craig Laundry MP. A leading academic and an expert lawyer have been appointed to examine compliance and enforcement issues in Australia’s construction sector to help ensure the ongoing safety of the nation’s buildings. The Building Ministers’ Forum (BMF) today announced that Professor [...]
Click here to see the original press release from Macquarie University, and here to jump straight to the calculator. The challenges of comparing the cost of retirement villages will get much easier with today’s launch of Macquarie University’s retirement village calculator, the first of its kind in Australia. The free calculator, available at www.rvcalculator.org takes [...]
The following is reposted from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman website: The TIO is proposing to amend its Terms of Reference to address the increasing complexity of the telecommunications supply chain arising from the rollout of the national broadband network. This complexity has given rise to a number of unique challenges in resolving complaints between consumers [...]
ACCAN welcomes the ACCC’s guidance to retail service providers (RSPs) on broadband speed claims released today. The guidance should help clear up the consumer confusion around broadband speeds. The informative labels that the ACCC has suggested (basic evening speed, standard evening speed, standard plus evening speed and premium evening speed) will help consumers better understand the speeds they [...]
Independent Chairperson The AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS) is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified people interested in serving as the Independent Chairperson to the ATAS Code Compliance Monitoring Committee (ACCMC). ATAS is the travel industry accreditation scheme for travel intermediaries, travel agents in Australia and operates with some 3000 locations nationally. The role [...]
Media Release from Queensland Consumers Association The Prime Minister's meeting with energy retailer CEOs on 9 August resulted in some actions and ideas aimed mainly at assisting consumers to make better informed decisions about energy contracts and retailers. It is pleasing that these included many that the Queensland Consumers Association (QCA) and other consumer advocates have [...]
ACCC Media Release: ACCC Chairman Rod Sims has welcomed the Federal Government’s reappointment of Delia Rickard as Deputy Chair of the ACCC for a period of five years. The Government announced Delia’s reappointment today following unanimous support from the states and territories. “Delia has made an outstanding contribution to the work of the ACCC over [...]
Financial Counselling Australia welcomes amendments to the Interactive Gambling Bill that passed through Parliament today. “The online wagering companies will no longer be able to give people credit to gamble online. This was getting people into so much trouble” said Lauren Levin, Director Campaigns and Policy, FCA. “We’re so relieved to see the end of [...]
The following is a piece by Dr Martin Gill, a CFA representative on a number of Standards Australia Technical Committees. Petrol pricing hides a complex global market. Consider the numerous steps in supplying petrol: Crude oil is traded on a wholesale market with prices affected by global events Highly risky searches are undertaken for new [...]
Live debt free! Take control! Never stress about money again! Maybe you’ve seen one of the TV or radio ads that Debt Vultures use to flog services such as “repairing” credit reports, debt negotiation, personal budgeting, and debt agreements. Debt Vultures give bad advice and spruik so-called "debt solutions" to Australians in financial hardship, and waste [...]
